


Stop to Look

by Listentothelittlebird



Series: Code Bat [25]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Gen, Happy New Year!, I just wrote this HAHA, Not Canon Compliant, The Bats like to say hi to their Gothamites, The internet is devolving into "stalk the Bats"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 09:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28469391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listentothelittlebird/pseuds/Listentothelittlebird
Summary: The new year countdown was unfortunately not enough to deter the crime rates.There was still time to take a break during patrol to watch the fireworks, though.(Happy new year, here's to a better one!)
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne
Series: Code Bat [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964452
Comments: 26
Kudos: 445





	Stop to Look

You would think that, in a city like Gotham, people would know better than to stay outside until midnight.

That was, unfortunately, not the case.

Red Robin landed on a rooftop and stretched, sighing deeply. New Year’s Eve was always a long night - it was almost as bad as Halloween, and that was saying something.

“Aw,” Nightwing’s voice trailed through the comms, “Thank you! Happy new year to you, too!"

Red Robin rolled his eyes. Moments later, his brother joined him on the rooftop, munching happily on what looked like a gingerbread cookie.

“I tested it, I promise,” Nightwing assured, before Red Robin could even open his mouth, “It’s just gingerbread. You want some?”

“I brought my own,” Red Robin stated, pulling out one of Alfred’s cookies from his pocket. Nightwing gasped, pouting, “And you weren’t gonna share?”

“Well, duh,” Red Hood drawled, “Hey, BG, some kids wanna see you. Ye’r real good at pickin’ up on accents, huh?”

“Ooooh, on my way!” Batgirl chirped brightly. Red Robin grinned and bit into his cookie.

The one good thing about tonight was that they need not hide from civilians, what with the video of them circulating far and wide. Even Robin had dropped beside Batman at the GCPD that night, much to Commissioner Gordon’s surprise. Tim grinned wider remembering the man’s surprise and subsequent deadpan expression.

“We should sit somewhere to watch the fireworks,” Nightwing mused, looking out over the rooftops ahead of them, “Maybe take a stop at WE?”

“Pass,” Black Bat huffed over the comms, “Fireworks are lame.”

“Yeah, explosions are much more interesting,” Red Hood piped up, “Anyway, we should have at least some people still patrolling. Although, Batman, you should let R see the fireworks.”

“Tt. Why?”

“It’s fun,” Nightwing chirped. Robin huffed. 

“We’re two minutes away,” Batman grunted, “We’ll meet you there.”

Nightwing grinned and leapt off their perch. Red Robin joined him, soaring as far as he could with his gliding wings before launching himself back into the air with his grapple. They still touched down at the Wayne Enterprises building around the same time.

“B, hurry up,” Nightwing whined, “It’s almost time!”

“We are here already, you imbecile,” Robin retorted as he landed on the roof, Batman close behind. Robin plopped himself down between Nightwing and Red Robin - Tim mused absently that, when they first met, Dami would never sit even a metre away from him. Now, he was pressed as close to Red Robin as he was to Nightwing.

“O, bring up the counter,” Nightwing instructed excitedly. Oracle sighed through the comms, and on Red Robin’s holo-glove, a countdown from one minute began. It was the same countdown animation used for premiering videos, and if the snort from Red Hood meant anything, it was being shown on their domino masks, as well.

“I’m tryin’ ta’ see, idiots,” Jason drawled through the comms. “Stop whinin’,” Steph laughed, “It c’be way worse. Like, it c’take up ye’r whole vision, an’ play that stupid lo-fi beat.”

“O,” Red Robin groaned, “I hear you thinking. Don’t do it.”

“Since you asked so kindly,” Oracle muttered dryly, “I won’t.”

They settled into a peaceful silence as the last ten seconds counted down. They could hear the yells of people counting down from their apartments and from the streets, and Red Robin just barely picked up on the quiet whisper of Nightwing following the numbers under his breath.

“One!”

A brief delay, the cheers muted and far away, before the first firework came whistling out into the air. The spark bloomed into a bright circle, even as more and more joined the display in the sky.

“Happy new year!” Nightwing whooped into the air, his voice drowned out by the explosions of colour overhead.

“Happy new year,” Batman rumbled in amusement, standing to the side of where three of his children were squished together on the floor. There was the ghost of a smile on his face.

“Happy new year, kid,” Red Robin grinned, nudging Robin lightly. Robin sniffed. “Happy new year,” he returned, and started squirming, “Let us go, then. We should disperse before any crimes break out after the fireworks.”

Nightwing stretched an arm around both Robins and pulled them closer to his side. “We can watch for just a while longer,” Nightwing assured with a smile, “Fireworks last for a pretty long time.”

Robin huffed, elbowed Nightwing pointedly, and settled quietly into his hold. Anyone else would find it uncomfortable to try and cuddle in Kevlar armour, but they had long grown used to it. Red Robin rested his head above Robin’s, leaning against Nightwing’s shoulder, and sighed happily.

~

Gotham’s internet was steadily becoming a documentary on the vigilantes’, more than anything.

The Bats usually rotated their patrols between themselves, ensuring that there was always one or two people in Gotham to assist Batman and Robin. This meant that most photos of the Bats came in intervals, alternating from Black Bat and Batgirl to Red Hood and Nightwing - not that Gothamites had figured out their real vigilante names, yet, of course.

That new year, besides the photos of fireworks, there were also many photos of the Bats in different locations.

Someone from the GCPD had posted a photo of Robin on the rooftop, standing with a confident tilt to his chin beside Batman’s form. His arms were folded, scowl firmly set and looking all the more like the man beside him.

There was a photo from earlier in the day of Signal handing over a group of bank robbers to the police. There were separate photos of him carrying a young child back towards their parents, and smiling softly at their reunion.

From what looked like someone’s apartment window, there was the blurry and dimly-lit photo of two figures standing in an alley, surrounded by a group of excited street kids.

There was a photo of Black Bat, with a young child on her shoulders, escorting a scared family back home. There was a photo of Nightwing perched precariously on a fire escape, and the person inside offering him a leftover Christmas cookie. 

There was also a supposedly “leaked security camera footage” - a single photo, showing the silhouettes of Nightwing, Robin and Red Robin, watching on as the fireworks burst in the distance.

Tim knew better. Even Wayne Enterprises hardly had any camera footage that could show up with such high quality pictures.

“You should rest soon,” Bruce rumbled behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder. Tim leaned into the touch with a hum. “Soon,” Tim promised, “I just wanna file these away first, and then I’ll be up.”

“You better,” Bruce hummed, as Tim whirled around to grin at him.

“It was from your cowl, wasn’t it?” Tim asked, and trusted that Bruce knew what he was saying. 

Bruce rolled his eyes and tugged Tim into his side. Tim went easily, squeezing his arms around him and pressing his face into the man’s turtleneck. He took a moment to soak in the warmth, to sink into the familiar scent of Alfred’s detergent and Bruce’s favourite shower gel, before readjusting his position to blink innocently up at him.

“Well?” Tim prompted. 

“You can always check for yourself,” Bruce deflected, and Tim grinned, because that was confirmation in itself.

“I wanted to hear it from you,” Tim shot back cheekily, and reluctantly pulled away from the hug. He was not looking forward to going back to his room to sleep, if he was honest. He considered joining Bruce in his bedroom, just to be around another person.

“You can join us in the living room, once you’re done,” Bruce cut through his thoughts as he turned to leave the Batcave, “Last I checked, Dick was convincing Jay to join him and Damian.”

Tim smiled, hummed in acknowledgement, and hurried to wrap up his files.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so, I'm eleven hours late in my time zone, but I think I'm on time in other time zones, so, I come from the future! Happy new year!
> 
> I originally had another fic to post, but that one is... not a new year's mood. You'll see tomorrow ;) hehe


End file.
